<p><p>Washington State cannot lay sole claim to the biggest upside surprise in the west this season.</p></p><p><p>The second-place Cougars have overshot their preseason projection in the Pac-12 race (10th) by a whopping eight spots.</p></p><p><p>But Utah State has done the same.</p></p><p><p>The Aggies, picked ninth in the Mountain West preseason media poll, are currently alone in first place and have pulled off their feat in a more difficult conference. The MW has a deeper well of quality teams, and likely NCAA Tournament participants, than the Pac-12.</p></p><p><p>Danny Sprinkle doesn’t appear on many national Coach of the Year lists, but Utah State’s first-year boss has conjured a remarkable season from the Aggies.</p></p><p><p>Then again, Sprinkle’s success at his alma mater, Montana State, which included NCAA Tournament berths in 2022 and 2023, suggested he would turn the Aggies into a contender — just not in Year 1.</p></p><p><p>They were gutted by attrition, to the point that none of Utah State’s returning players recorded a statistic last season.</p></p><p><p>“It’s crazy,” Sprinkle said during a Mountain West preseason media event, “no points, no rebounds, no assists.”</p></p><p><p>But like Kyle Smith at Washington State, Sprinkle leaned heavily into the transfer portal, found players who fit his system and were willing to take a leap of faith with the reclamation project.</p></p><p><p>Months later, the Aggies have a half-game lead over Nevada, Boise and UNLV in the jammed Mountain West race. They seemingly are safely in the NCAAs with an 8-5 record against Quadrant I and II opponents and skeptics, including the Hotline, have been resoundingly silenced.</p></p><p><p>They are, like WSU, quite the story.</p></p><p><p>To the latest Best of the West rankings …</p></p><p><h3>1. Arizona (23-6/14-4)</h3></p><p><p><strong>Last week:</strong> 1</p></p><p><p><strong>Results:</strong> won at Arizona State 85-67, beat Oregon 103-83</p></p><p><p><strong>NET ranking:</strong> No. 4</p></p><p><p><strong>Next up:</strong> at UCLA (Thursday)</p></p><p><p><strong>Comment:</strong> Are the Wildcats in full control of their No. 1 seed destiny in the NCAAs? Maybe not. Tennessee could overtake them with a stellar run to the SEC tournament title.</p></p><p><h3>2. Brigham Young (21-8/9-7 Big 12)</h3></p><p><p><strong>Last week:</strong> 2</p></p><p><p><strong>Results:</strong> beat TCU 87-75</p></p><p><p><strong>NET ranking:</strong> No. 12</p></p><p><p><strong>Next up:</strong> at Iowa State (Wednesday)</p></p><p><p><strong>Comment:</strong> The inspired performance against TCU came a few days after BYU’s gritty win over a mid-level Big 12 foe in Lawrence, Kan.</p></p><p><h3>3. Washington State (23-7/14-5)</h3></p><p><p><strong>Last week:</strong> 4</p></p><p><p><strong>Results:</strong> beat USC 75-72 and UCLA 77-65</p></p><p><p><strong>NET ranking:</strong> No. 39</p></p><p><p><strong>Next up:</strong> vs. Washington (Thursday)</p></p><p><p><strong>Comment:</strong> The Cougars could lose to the Huskies and drop their first Pac-12 tournament game and still be a single-digit seed in the NCAAs. And who the heck figured that would ever be the case?</p></p><p><h3>4. Gonzaga (24-6/14-2 WCC)</h3></p><p><p><strong>Last week:</strong> 6</p></p><p><p><strong>Results:</strong> won at San Francisco 86-68 and Saint Mary’s 70-57</p></p><p><p><strong>NET ranking:</strong> No. 17</p></p><p><p><strong>Next up:</strong> vs. TBD in WCC tournament</p></p><p><p><strong>Comment:</strong> Tremendous finish for the Zags, who were a two-point home loss to Saint Mary’s and a one-point road loss to Santa Clara from a perfect conference season.</p></p><p><h3>5. Saint Mary’s (24-7/15-1 WCC)</h3></p><p><p><strong>Last week:</strong> 3</p></p><p><p><strong>Results:</strong> won at Pepperdine 83-57, lost to Gonzaga 70-57</p></p><p><p><strong>NET ranking:</strong> No. 18</p></p><p><p><strong>Next up:</strong> vs. TBD in WCC tournament</p></p><p><p><strong>Comment:</strong> Will it matter that the Gaels are paired with Santa Clara rather than San Francisco in the WCC semifinals? Probably not. They swept both during the regular season.</p></p><p><h3>6. San Diego State (22-8/11-6 MW)</h3></p><p><p><strong>Last week:</strong> 5</p></p><p><p><strong>Results:</strong> lost at UNLV 62-58</p></p><p><p><strong>NET ranking:</strong> No. 19</p></p><p><p><strong>Next up:</strong> vs. Boise State (Friday)</p></p><p><p><strong>Comment:</strong> No reason to fret, yet. Good teams lose close games on the road; it’s the nature of conference play.</p></p><p><h3>7. Oregon (19-10/11-7)</h3></p><p><p><strong>Last week:</strong> 7</p></p><p><p><strong>Results:</strong> beat Oregon State 78-71, lost at Arizona 103-83</p></p><p><p><strong>NET ranking:</strong> No. 64</p></p><p><p><strong>Next up:</strong> vs. Colorado (Thursday)</p></p><p><p><strong>Comment:</strong> At least the Ducks know exactly what they need to do: Win the Pac-12 tournament. The at-large path into the NCAAs appears blocked.</p></p><p><h3>8. Colorado State (21-9/9-8 MW)</h3></p><p><p><strong>Last week:</strong> 9</p></p><p><p><strong>Results:</strong> beat Wyoming 70-62</p></p><p><p><strong>NET ranking:</strong> No. 36</p></p><p><p><strong>Next up:</strong> at Air Force (Saturday)</p></p><p><p><strong>Comment:</strong> As opposed to the situation at SDSU, it is time to fret in Fort Collins, where the Rams struggled to put away eighth-place Wyoming.</p></p><p><h3>9. Boise State (21-9/12-5 MW)</h3></p><p><p><strong>Last week:</strong> 8</p></p><p><p><strong>Results:</strong> beat New Mexico 89-79, lost to Nevada 76-66</p></p><p><p><strong>NET ranking:</strong> No. 27</p></p><p><p><strong>Next up:</strong> at San Diego State (Friday)</p></p><p><p><strong>Comment:</strong> We expected the regular-season finale in Viejas Arena to feature two contenders. We just didn’t think both teams would be chasing Utah State.</p></p><p><h3>10. Utah State (24-5/12-4 MW)</h3></p><p><p><strong>Last week:</strong> 10</p></p><p><p><strong>Results:</strong> beat Air Force 72-60</p></p><p><p><strong>NET ranking:</strong> No. 38</p></p><p><p><strong>Next up:</strong> at San Jose State (Wednesday)</p></p><p><p><strong>Comment:</strong> First Craig Smith, then Ryan Odom, now Danny Sprinkle — that’s three stellar hires in a row by Utah State’s administration.</p></p><p><h3>11. New Mexico (21-8/9-7 MW)</h3></p><p><p><strong>Last week:</strong> 11</p></p><p><p><strong>Results:</strong> lost at Boise State 89-79</p></p><p><p><strong>NET ranking:</strong> No. 29</p></p><p><p><strong>Next up:</strong> vs. Fresno State (Wednesday)</p></p><p><p><strong>Comment:</strong> We aren’t prepared to describe the Lobos’ regular season as underachieving, but that point is rapidly approaching.</p></p><p><h3>12. Colorado (20-9/11-7 Pac-12)</h3></p><p><p><strong>Last week:</strong> Not ranked</p></p><p><p><strong>Results:</strong> beat Cal 88-78 and Stanford 81-71</p></p><p><p><strong>NET ranking:</strong> No. 31</p></p><p><p><strong>Next up:</strong> at Oregon (Thursday)</p></p><p><p><strong>Comment:</strong> The Hotline gave serious consideration … very serious consideration … to slotting UNLV here. Watch out for the Rebels in the MW tournament.</p></p><p><p><strong>Also considered:</strong> Eastern Washington, Grand Canyon, Nevada, San Francisco, Santa Clara, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UNLV and Utah</p></p>
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